Many kinds of diseases and accidents may cause harm to the human body, resulting in pain, wounds, infections, and injuries requiring both swift and continuous treatments. The treatment of such wounds/injuries has been a crucial part of healthcare. Various methods and devices have been developed to improve the quality of care that may be provided in such treatments and the healing process. Among these approaches are temperature alternation techniques, such as the application of heat or coldness by different sources.
Application of heat, or coldness, or alternating temperature changes have been widely used in the treatment of wound, infection, pain, and injury for a very long time. In addition, the heating treatment may also prevent cutaneous/skin infections as well as preventing skin infection pre-operatively. Heating treatments such as heat pads are believed to cause the dilation of blood vessels, facilitate perfusion to the target tissues and cycling of blood, and sterilize the targeting area. Cold treatments such as ice pads reduce swelling and are used in pain management following injury.
The temperature altering treatments, especially the application of heat, are widely in use but there are still a number of general shortcomings. Wound healing involves a complex series of biochemical events, and is traditionally managed with low tech options. For example, previous heat applicators are generally bulky and difficult to fit onto small wounds or injuries at locations that are hard to access. Perioperative heat treatment, known to significantly reduce post operative wound infection, is currently not practically available because of a limitation in available devices that are portable and do not require bulky hardware for each individual patient to facilitate treatment. There is a distinct need for an easy to use portable inexpensive bandage device that can be applied periopertively to all patients that is not limited by the resource of fixed, expensive hardware. In addition, the regular heating applicators are not long lasting, requiring frequent change of the applicator. Thirdly, some of the heat applicators are hard to reheat. The ability to provide consistent thermoregulation is critical to the prevention of infection as fluxes in temperature (i.e. too hot or not hot enough) can have an adverse outcome in patient management.
In general, the existing heating application treatment devices are low in efficiency and high in waste of energy. These treatment devices cannot keep up with the development of new problems, such as the escalating crisis of multi-drug resistant infections including Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The medical literature demonstrates significant reduction in post-operative wound infection in patients who received local warming prior to surgery for a 30 minute period with reduction in rates of wound infection from 14% in non-warmed patients to 5% in warmed patients (greater than 60% reduction in wound infection). It is critical that an easy to use device with thermoregulatory control be available to all patients undergoing surgery particularly in light of the escalating crisis of multi-drug resistant infections including Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Further, theranostic and diagnostic sensors can be implemented to aid in wound care optimization for both acute and chronic wounds. This optimization can reduce hospital stay times, reduce costs, and prevent further infection(s). Therefore, the development of new technology is desirable and the current invention serves as a powerful alternative to the previous devices.The application of light to the human body is the basis for phototherapy. These therapies have been used in the treatments of many ailments such as cancer, acne, and psoriasis. Similar to temperature therapies, the application of some types of lights, such as lasers, helps to promote circulation. Photodynamic therapies are also used. This form of phototherapy uses a non-toxic, non-reactive substance that when exposed to select wavelengths of lighting becomes toxic and attacks the targeted cells. This is instrumental in being able to target a particular cell or area and have the advantage of leaving surrounding tissue unharmed. Light related therapy can kill many bacteria, fungi, and viruses.
However, the increasingly popular phototherapies have a number of general shortcomings as well. The current phototherapeutic models on the market for treating acne have a limited functionality, are small, hand held, and effective for only treating one pimple at a time. Depending on the person, this can end up taking an inordinate amount of time. There are larger models on the market, however, these models are also not form fitting and require a user to simply hold the device to the affected area for the prescribed amount of time. Thus, the user must remain in a fixed position for upwards of one hour and then change the position of the device to treat another area.
Nanotechnology stands at the vanguard of integrating science and engineering and it has undergone significant progress in recent years. By using materials having nanometer level dimensions and special physical characteristics, nanotechnology has proven to be a promising field of innovation. In particular, a number of improvements in nanotechnology using nanofibers, nanotubes, and nano-particles have enabled the production of batteries that provide higher energy density, last longer, and/or recharge faster. In addition, nanofibers have been shown to be applicable in a number of disciplines such as material science, molecular biology, and medical sciences. Nevertheless, the use of nanofibers and nanotechnology batteries in medical devices, in particular treatment devices, has been scanty and leaves much to be desired. The current invention addresses the aforementioned needs.